1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to personal cooling devices, and in particular, to personal cooling devices that utilize fans and water mist.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal cooling devices utilizing fans and water mist have been used in hot-weather conditions for some time. The combination of a fine spray mist and increased air flow facilitates evaporation from the skin and, in turn, lowers the skin and body temperature of persons in the immediate fan environment. Large box-type fans were outfitted with drip systems or mist nozzles to create an additional cooling effect. Such cooling devices are used at athletic events to help cool both the athletes and spectators in hot weather. Although these devices can be used to cool several people at once, they are bulky and take up a large amount of space.
The concept of combining spray mist with a fan was scaled down to the individual level by equipping small, hand-held pump-spray bottles with small electrical fans. The fan blades on these devices are relatively small and often made of soft plastic or foam rubber to prevent injury to the user. Although these devices are portable, their capacity is limited because the volume of the spray bottle must be kept low due to the weight of the water. If the volume of the spray bottles exceed a quart or so, the bottle becomes too heavy to carry conveniently. In addition, these hand-held devices are usually powered by low-power batteries, thereby limiting the operational life of the devices.
During the summer, the decks of commercial and recreational watercraft can be unbearably hot. Unfortunately, the above devices offer little or no relief for watercraft passengers. The large box-type fans with drip or mist systems cannot fit into the limited space on the deck of these watercraft, and the small hand-held devices simply do not have adequate capacity, as measured by either the volume of water available, or by their electrical operational lives to keep the passengers cool.
Therefore, although these devices represent significant development in the area of personal cooling devices, significant shortcomings remain, particularly in the area of passenger cooling devices for use on commercial and recreational watercraft. This is especially true in the case of watercraft with large, flat exposed passenger decks which craft are anchored for significant periods of time in use, such as with the modern bass boat.